What brings you here
by wilddaisy27
Summary: Here is my take on how each of the characters on SO got to where they are today.
1. Cheryl

_I've always wondered what brought each of the characters to the FBI in the position they are in. Here is a collection of one shots explaining how Matt, Emily, Cheryl, Frank, Duff, and Lia all become the people we all know and love._

**Cheryl Carrera**

_**D.C**_

Cheryl walked into the FBI building head held high. She had passed her last exam. She was finally a real FBI agent. She didn't care that all the men in her class were intimadated by her. She was a strong confident woman who didn't need a man to make her life complete. If the men she was interested in couldn't handle her job then she would live her life for her job. She would be the best negotiator the bureau had ever seen and show them just what they had been missing. One day they would all work for her.

_**4 years later**_

"Carrera. My office now." Her boss yelled from the doorway of his office.

"Yes sir." She replied hating the fact that she had to be so submissive.

Cheryl walked into the office and he closed the door.

"Have a seat." He said as he went around his large desk to sit.

There was an uncomfortable silence before he spoke.

"Well I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?" He asked trying to figure out how she would take her new assignment.

"The bad, then maybe I can talk my way out of it." Cheryl responded a little annoyed.

"Well, you're being reassigned. L.A. to be exact. That branch needs a new negotiator and you've been trained by the best. The bureau thinks you have potential. So I guess it's the opportunity of a lifetime. You can take the assignment and move to L.A., or you can stay here and do everyday field work."

"Well, I've always wanted to go to L.A. And well, I think I'm ready to be a negotiator, I've helped on a lot of cases. I'm honored that the bureau has given me this opportunity. Thank you. When do I leave?" Cheryl asked as she rose to leave.

"Next week. The bureau will pay your moving expenses since this was their decision. You have the rest of the day off to begin making your arrangements... Carrera." He paused before continuing, "You're good at what you do. You'll make an excellent negotiatior and one day, you'll be the one sitting behind this desk."

"Thanks, I'll finsh my paperwork from the last case and then I'll leave." Cheryl

said smiling at the new challenge laid before her.

Cheryl had loved D.C. but her time there was done. There was no room for promotion, and that's what she wanted. She wanted to shatter the glass ceiling and make a name for herself in the bureau. She was going to L.A. to do just that. Her parents had always wanted her to be successful. Her parents were both lawyers. Cheryl grew up with a sense of justice and helping however she could. Becoming negotiator did not surprise her parents knowing that Cheryl could talk her way out of just about any situation.

_**L.A.**_

Cheryl walked into the the L.A. field office. She noticed a handsome man talking to a few other guys she assumed were agents or members of HRT. Cheryl smiled after she passed by them knowing that they were watching her. She found the director's office where she was to report without any help.

She lightly knocoked on the door where it was answered with a shouted, "Come in."

Cheryl entered her new supervisor's office with confidence and introduced herself. She talked with him for a few minutes before calling for her partner.

"Flannery, my office now!" He called out the door breaking up the meeting of his agents that had gathered to discuss this woman who appeared in the office not too long ago.

Matt Flannery had only been with the FBI for little over 6 months, but he was well liked by everyone he worked with. The women wanted him and the men, well they wanted to be him. He strolled into the office and sat comfortably in the chair nearest his boss.

"What's up? He asked flashing his irrestible smile at Cheryl.

"I'd like you to meet your new partner Cheryl Carrera." The supervisor said thinking from what he had heard, Cheryl was the only person who could put up with Flannery's cowboy personality and antics.

Matt and Cheryl worked well together. They had a great percentage rate for getting hostages released which is why five years into their partnership Cheryl was promoted. She was the calm one of the two. She kept Matt grounded and out of HRT's way.

Cheryl had a job to do. She had to find the best partner to put up with Matt, but he had a reputation. She began the process and found a field agent that had been known for her ability to negotiate with hostage takers on the spot. She even wrote the teaching manual. Cheryl wondered if she would be good partner for Matt. This was her first task in her new role as Supervisor in charge and she ahd to make sure it would be the best decision she could make.

_**2 years later**_

Cheryl sat at her desk filling out paperwork on the latest case her team had negotiated. She was a little worried at teh beginning, but then she made Flannery and Lehman work together and wow! The sparks weren't just between the crazy couple they were talking too. They weren't back in the office yet, but she had a feeling they were a little preoccupied with making up and for that she was thankful. It's a good thing she hadn't put their requests for new partners through since she knew they would be back together. They were too good not to be together. She just wanted her unit back the way it was and she hoped that they would make up so that would happen.


	2. Lia

Lia

Lia was always well liked in school, the popular cheerleader. She loved computers and being the daughter of a computer engineer it was in her blood. However she hid that love to be liked by others. Lia had a need to feel accepted from her peers so she down played her intelligence to her friends but still made high grades that placed her at the top of her class.

On career day her senior year, her friends were all off talking to people about high profile big money jobs while Lia kept passing by the F.B.I. table over and over. Finally she stopped. She spoke with a woman who was an agent and a man who was a RSIMS operator. That job fascinated her more than the agent's. It was the heart of the operation, without it the agents couldn't do their jobs.

Lia went to MIT and gained her degree computer engineering. She could find information on anyone and she could break through all kinds of firewalls. She learned from the best but she felt unfulfilled.

After college while packing her room at her parents' house, she stumbled across the booklet she had received at her high school career fair. Lia realized that maybe she should look into it a little more. She applied for the FBI and was sent to Quantico. She quickly soared to the top of her class no longer willing to be kept down in a male dominant profession. Lia knew she was good and with this new found confidence, she became more attractive to the men in training with her. She dated several of them only to have them think she was too intelligent for them.

Lia spent four years in Virginia before working on her first case. She was assigned to the "best negotiation team" the FBI had in the area. She observed them one day and knew that they were only the best because she made them that way with her Intel files. Lia anted to work with a team that truly was the best. She had studied cases in her classes of Cheryl Carrera and Matt Flannery and knew that they were the ones she wanted to work with. She put in for a transfer to the west coast and when it was granted eagerly jumped on the first flight she could get to LA.

Lia walked the halls of CNU Los Angeles. She noticed an argument going on between a very nice-looking man and a beautiful red-head. She figured they were working on a case. She stood watching the heated discussion before noticing the way the man looked at the woman. He brushed his hand across her arm and she calmed down. It was then that Cheryl Carrera stepped out of her office and saw the young woman.

Lia was there for a six-week trial in which she proved herself invaluable to the CNU unit. She later found out during a negotiation that the man and woman from before were partners that were sleeping together. Lia thought about how lucky they ere that they didn't get fired, but after sitting in the woman's class and watching the two of them she couldn't fault their boss for not splitting them up.

Lia thought about this as she had beers with the team after a long day with two negotiations. She had grown so much and Duff didn't seem intimidated by her intelligence, so she would keep their secret and hope that one day she would be able to tell her friends of her journey to LA and how working with the people she admired for years was something she never dreamed of, but here she was living out her dream and loving every minute of it. She wished those guys in high school could see her now, knowing that she was the definition of hot and she had the job that they all wanted.


	3. Duff

Duff came around the tree and quickly fired off three rounds. He hit his target square in the chest. Duff smiled as he had single-handedly beaten the other team. His friends came around the other trees and the defeated victim shook the victor's hand.

"Hey Duff man, you should be a sniper or something with that aim." His friend Juan said as he took off his vest.

"Nah, I think I'll work for the FBI, you know tracking the bad guys and making them yield to my power." Duff replied laughing as the group of friends walked out of the woods at the paint ball course near their homes.

As he was walking home, Duff began to really think about possibilities for his future. As he walked towards home, he saw the flashing lights about a block from where he lived.

Duff took off in a run realizing that the flashing lights were on a police car parked at his cousin's house. Duff sprinted to the police line held back by two officers. He scanned the crowd hoping to see the faces of his relatives, alas his eyes settled on his cousins sitting just inside the barricade. Duff strolled around the onlookers and gradually worked his way under the police tape. He sat down beside Maria who told him all about her mom shooting her dad in self-defense.

Unfortunately, Duff's aunt found herself behind bars (the judge didn't see it as self-defense) and that is when Duff made a promise to his family that one day he would be the one making sure that the bad guys got put behind bars.

_Five years later:_

Duff walked confidently through the halls of CNU. This was his first day and he was meeting the head of HRT. He was wet behind the ears but eager to learn. He was one of the best in his training class and that's why he was sent they needed a second in command and from what he was told, Duff would be in line for that job with some experience.


	4. Frank

Frank

Frank leaned back in his chair. He had just passed the FBI training with one of he highest scores the bureau had seen. Now he just had to figure out how to tell his boss at the San Diego Police Department that he was leaving. He had always wanted to work for the FBI and now that it was in his reach, he was very happy.

Frank signed the last of his paperwork agreeing to the background checks and then listed his top three choices for a field assignment. He really didn't care where he worked as long as it was FBI. Frank turned in his items and was told he would receive a call in the next week with an assignment. He would need to be ready to report to the selected bureau within two weeks.

Frank called his girlfriend thinking she would be happy, but she was less than enthusiastic. They were close and Frank thought things were more serious than they obviously were. Frank began hoping for a transfer away from the San Diego area.

Frank received a call a few days later indicating his move to Los Angeles. Frank immediately packed his bags and reported for duty at the FBI. He worked in HRT for two years before being promoted to supervisor. Frank felt like he had made the right decision for his career; however his personal life left him with a different woman each night. His best friend at the bureau was a negotiator named Matt Flannery. The two often discussed their latest conquests during down time. Matt could be found down in the Kill house or shooting range whenever he had free time. His partner, Cheryl Carrera , was a close friend, but told Matt and Frank that they were old enough to stop playing the field and settle down.

Two years later when Cheryl made supervisor, Frank was promoted to the head of HRT and Matt got a new partner. That's when the fun began, at least for Frank. Yes, he still wasn't settled down, but Matt had the hots for the beautiful red-head he worked with and Frank had a whole new group of rookies to train. The next year would definitely be fun for the HRT agent and he was looking forward to every minute of it.


End file.
